Speed Graphic Film and Video | Hollywood Outtakes: California Oil Wells @SpeedGraphicFilmVideo | Uploaded January 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
For most of the first half of the twentieth century, the coast of southern California was oil country. Forests of oil derricks lined the shore north and south of Los Angeles. These film clips give a bit of an idea of what it looked like--oil rigs side-by-side with beach houses.
While some of the oil fields were starting to go dry in the 1960's, the thing that really finished off the California oil business was the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. The largest spill at the time, it was the result of a blowout on an offshore oil platform, and dumped some 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean. A good deal of it ended up on the beaches. The incident got national news coverage and provided impetus for the Clean Water Act and the formation of the EPA.
While the derricks are gone, I've read that you can still see small pumps here and there, still extracting crude.
I can’t tell you much about the song OIL! that I put on the soundtrack. I can’t tell you thing about the writer or the performers. It just turned up in the archive. The other song is the flip side.
For most of the first half of the twentieth century, the coast of southern California was oil country. Forests of oil derricks lined the shore north and south of Los Angeles. These film clips give a bit of an idea of what it looked like--oil rigs side-by-side with beach houses.
While some of the oil fields were starting to go dry in the 1960's, the thing that really finished off the California oil business was the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. The largest spill at the time, it was the result of a blowout on an offshore oil platform, and dumped some 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of crude into the Pacific Ocean. A good deal of it ended up on the beaches. The incident got national news coverage and provided impetus for the Clean Water Act and the formation of the EPA.
While the derricks are gone, I've read that you can still see small pumps here and there, still extracting crude.
I can’t tell you much about the song OIL! that I put on the soundtrack. I can’t tell you thing about the writer or the performers. It just turned up in the archive. The other song is the flip side.
![Old Home Movies, Vol. VI: Through the Canadian Rockies by Train [Silent]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zAIkBwg8AMw/hqdefault.jpg "Old Home Movies, Vol. VI: Through the Canadian Rockies by Train [Silent]
This video brings together three photographers movies of the Canadian Rockies and the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The oldest scenes were probably taken in the mid-1930s; the newest in the late 50s or early 60s.
The first sequence is from the Medicus collection, taken by a family that could afford to travel and vacation in style, even in the midst of the Great Depression. On this trip, they take the train to Lake Louise, then motor to Banff where they catch the train back.
0:19 A view of the doubleheaded motive power from the observation car.
0:57 Across one of the more spectacular bridges on the Canadian Pacifics route.
1:32 A series of shots as the train passes through the famous spiral tunnels.
1:53 Lake Louise as seen from the CPs Chateau Lake Louise.
2:07 The Hotel itself. One wing was destroyed by fire in the 1920s; its replacement looks very different from the rest of the building.
2:22 A cold trip by car from Lake Louise to Banff.
2:30 The Canadian Pacifics Banff Springs Hotel.
2:54 Banff itself.
3:15 The train back home.
The next sequence was probably taken in the 1950s. The photographer is unknown, but seems to be traveling with a couple of women relatives.
3:26 View of Lake Louise from the Chateau Lake Louise.
3:34 Various views of the hotel and staff.
4:45 A stop at the Kicking Horse Tea Room, which offered views of the spiral tunnels. The photographer is, unfortunately, only able to capture a couple of quick shots of a pair of steam locomotives running light.
5:05 Time to board the train. At the head is one of the CPs mighty T2a 2-10-4 Selkirks, the 5921.
5:22 Taking the siding to let another train by, this one in charge of another Selkirk, the 5923.
5:35 On the way to Vancouver, with some doubleheading at one point.
The final short sequence of shots were probably taken in the late 1950s or early 1960s. The photographer has stopped to see the spiral tunnels, and is rewarded with (distant) views of a couple of diesel-powered passenger trains.
5:47 Consist looks to be a mix of older heavyweight cars and newer stainless-steel equipment, including a dome-observation car on the end.
6:30 The train is almost entirely hidden by the overgrowth.
6:40 Another train. It appears to be all the latest passenger equipment.
A final note: I cut many minutes of footage showing mountains, lakes, glaciers and snowfields. Even though everybody tries, its impossible to capture the beauty and the grandeur of the Canadian Rockies on film.")
